


The Worst Kind of Intrigue

by LarirenShadow



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Online Dating, Rey needs to get information, dating app, kylo is an ass
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-24
Updated: 2017-06-24
Packaged: 2018-11-18 11:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11289981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LarirenShadow/pseuds/LarirenShadow
Summary: Rey needs info about the new electric car that was just put on hold by the First Order. All her internet snooping has been in vain so she's resorting to a more personal kind: heading to their main campus, apply called Star Killer Base, downloading tinder and swiping right on every person who mentions being an engineer in their profile. She didn't expect Kylo Ren, the head of the project, to be her match. Her little tech blog is about to get the biggest scoop ever.





	The Worst Kind of Intrigue

**Author's Note:**

> This came about when I joked that I should just download tinder and swipe right on anyone while hanging out by the LucasFilm office. I didn't but I did get a picture with the Yoda fountain.
> 
> politicalmamaduck also made an amazing moodboard for me that's on tumblr!

 Of the thirty tabs Rey had open in her browser exactly two of them are helpful and one was her email.  The other was the address of First Order Tech, on a campus with a horribly stupid name of Star Killer Base.  She hoped it was a former campus for some company that promised space travel but it could also have been one of the tech boom companies that wanted to have a cool name.

 

Or FO named it that, which is entirely possible.  She’d seen many a terrible campus name in her research for her tiny tech blog but this took the cake.  And it was just a short bus ride away.  Which came in handy because damnit she wanted to know what the hell happened with the FO electric car.

 

Her RSS feed went haywire earlier, proclaiming the project on hold for unknown reasons.  She was determined to know those reasons and maybe get a little publicity in the process.  Her blog could use sponsors after all.  Plus if the world started taking her seriously she could get access to other stories and not have to scour the internet for other sources.

 

“Now, how to get in,” she muttered to herself as her index finger tapped the corner of her laptop.  She had no way to get a key card nor a way to program one to open the doors at FO.

 

“Get in where?”  Finn asked from the kitchen.  Rey looked over at her roommate, currently making them a very healthy dinner of mac and cheese.

 

“First Order,” Rey said as she closed tab number twenty five, a very unhelpful article about how the CEO of FO, Snoke, called for a hult on the project.  It said the same thing as tabs ten and three.

 

“Why do you want to go there?”

 

“Because some of us didn’t have horrible intern experiences there.  Wait, do you still have your key card?”  She asked hopefully.

 

“Nope.  Confiscated when I left.”

 

“Boo.”  Rey turned back to her computer, willing something new to pop up.  She pulled her hair out of the messy bun she had it up in before opening a new article.  As she read she put her hair up again, a routine she repeated on almost every article.

 

“You’re going to pull you hair out,” Finn said as he sat down next to her, two bowls in hand.  “Eat.”

 

Rey put her laptop on their second hand coffee table and brought her legs up on the couch.  “I just want to know why they stopped working on this.  It was going to be their new power house and it’s just stopped.”

 

“The only way you’re going to know that is if you talk to an employee.”

 

“What do you suggest, I troll the campus and just ask people about it?”

 

“No one is going to talk to you when they’re on campus.  I swear they actually have microphones everywhere.  You’d have to lure someone to a secondary location.”

 

“What, like use my feminine wiles to get someone to come with me?”  

 

“Like you have any.”

 

Rey sat up straight.  “I’ll have you know I believe I am good looking.”

 

“Not in an oversized sweatshirt and sleep shorts.”

 

She kicked his shin.  “You just don’t see it because we’ve had our moment.”

 

“I just said in what you’re wearing!  I’m sure you could convince some guy to follow you if you wanted.”

 

“Damn right.”  She ate her dinner and thought about what he suggested.  “But how would I get someone to come with me?”

 

“You can’t actually be considering this.”  She made a noncommittal noise.  “No one is going to come with you if you just go up to them, mostly because they all have their noses buried in their phones.”

 

“Their phones,” Rey said as her eyes went wide.  “Do you think they have dating apps on them?”

 

“Are you kidding?  That’s the only way any of them had a social life.  I got like ten matches a day.”

 

“I could make a tinder,” Rey said slowly, “and make it just right.”

 

“Rey.”

 

“What?”

 

“You want to create a tinder just to see if you can convince someone to tell you industry secrets?”  She nodded.  “You do realize the majority of people on there just want to hook up, right?”  Again she nodded.  “You would do that?”

 

“Hook up? No,” she shook her head.  “Have drinks and talk about their work and ply them with enough alcohol to pour them into a lyft and get the inside story?  Yes.”

 

“You have the money for the alcohol?”  Finn asked.

 

“God no, but they do.  Now,” Rey pulled up her Google photos, for once happy she kept her pictures linked, “help me pick out a profile picture.”

 

The next day Rey sat in the middle of Star Killer base, sunglasses on while she scrolled through profiles presented to her.  She kept swiping right unless there was something horribly wrong with the guy.  Or the profile was something incredibly stupid.  She ended up swiping left more than right.  Even if they did mention being an engineer, Rey at least had some standards and didn’t want be sent five thousand dick pics.  Or be immediately asked for nudes. Drinks with the potential promise of a one night stand she could do, especially if they didn’t make it past drinks.

 

She picked at the frayed knee hole on her jeans, happy that holes were coming back into fashion even if hers were unintentional.   She kept scrolling until the little notification flashed.  She had a match!  Apparently SoloNoMore swiped right on her too.  She quickly opened the chat, hoping to get started.

 

_ Drinks tonight? _  She typed out.

 

**A little forward, aren’t you?**

 

_ Isn’t that what this is all about? _

 

**Fair enough**

_ So is that a no? _

 

**Nope, Craft at 8?**

 

Rey quickly yelped the place, seeing tons of pictures of multi-colored drinks, beers, and small plates.  It was a place Rey would never choose on her own but if he was going to pay (and she’d make sure of it) then who was she to complain?

 

_ See you there _

 

**Aren’t you going to ask what I look like?**

 

Rey rolled her eyes.   _ That’s what your profile picture is for _

 

Right, see you then

 

Rey locked her phone and stood, stretching.  She had what she needed, now to go home and try to look nice for her sort of date.  Luckily her good pair of jeans were clean along with her favorite green shirt that made her small chest look fantastic.

 

Hours later and a coat of foundation that she very rarely used later, Rey sat at one of the high tables near the bar waiting for her mystery date.  She checked his profile again, the pictures actually rather nice.  She really liked the one of him with a professional camera, smiling and waiting for a shot.  Had she not been trying to just get info she might actually date him.  Though, she reasoned, maybe he could be of some use.

 

“Checking your other matches?”  Rey jumped slightly at the voice.  

 

She looked up and smiled.  “SoloNoMore?”

 

He nodded and sat down.  She was impressed that he made the stood look even smaller than it was and that his legs could touch the ground even sitting down.  “DesertFlower, it’s nice to meet you.  You work for First Order then?”

 

“No,” Rey said as she slid her phone off the table.  “Just walking around the campus and decided to fire up the app.”

 

“Really?  I’ve heard girls go there just to get a certain type of guy,” he said.

 

“And obviously you’re not one of them,” he said a little sarcastically.  Rey decided he was kind of an ass.

 

“Do you accept matches just to insult them?”

 

“I usually don’t get matches.”

 

“I wonder why.”  Rey put her phone back on the table.  “Should I go over your profile?”

 

“Be my guest.”

 

“SoloNoMore.  You have your age, 30, and a little blurb about how you work for First Order and that’s it.  No likes, no dislikes, not even a quote from a brotastic movie!”

 

“I honestly hate most of those movies,” he said.

 

“Some of them are good and others are idiotic.  Do you like anything at all?”

 

“A lot of things.  I just don’t feel the need to list them on a profile.  The majority of the time people are looking at the pictures and making judgement based on that rather than any trite thing I could write.”

 

“You’re an asshole,” Rey found herself saying outloud.

 

“You’re not the first person to call me that.  Shall we end here-”

 

“Hi, I’m Audrey.  I’ll be your waitress is there anything I can get you?”

 

“IPA,” they said at the same time.

 

Audrey smiled.  “We have four on tap and two others available as bottles.  Which one would you like?”

 

Rey rolled her eyes.  “You don’t need six IPAs,” her “date” muttered.

 

“That’s a fact,” Rey agreed.  “I’ll have whichever you recommend.”

 

“I’ll do the same.”

 

“I’ll be right back!”  With that Audrey left and Rey turned to Kylo.

 

“So IPA?”  She asked hesitantly.

 

“I’d have thought you’d go for an ale or something.”  She raised an eyebrow.  “The accent,” he added.

 

“More a leftover from childhood than anything else.  Though I do prefer tea to coffee.”

 

“Then you’ve had terrible coffee.”

 

“Maybe you’ve had bad tea.”

 

“Point.”  He looked down at his hands.  “This is the longest date I’ve been on in awhile.”

 

“Your winning personality sure has the ladies lining up.”

 

“I like you, uh,” he stumbled.

 

Rey held out her hand.  “Rey and I’ll stay through my beer at least.”

 

He took her hand.  “Ben.”

 

Audrey returned with their drinks.  “Are you ready to order some food?”  

 

“Not yet,” Ben said.  As soon as the waitress left Ben took a drink.  “It’s not bad.”

 

“Slightly more bitter than I was expecting but I like it,” Rey agreed.  “If you think profiles are crap why did you swipe right on mine?  Which picture really got you?”  She had a guess it was her first one, from the New Year's party a few months ago that Finn had dragged her too.  Even she had to admit she looked hot in that picture.

 

“The one of you cleaning the carburetor,” Ben said.

 

Rey nearly choked on her drink.  That was the fun picture she’d included and expected no one to really look at; she was covered in grease and in an old ratty shirt, grungy hair back in three buns.  “That one?”

 

“Any girl who can post that and still expect contacts deserves a chance.  And you know your way around a car.”

 

“I do,” she admitted.  “It’s been a constant for me.”

 

“The backstory.”

 

“Yes, we’re at the part in the date where we go over our lives.  Siblings?”

 

“None,” Ben said.  “Only child and no cousins.  You?”

 

“Foster homes, last one had no other kids.”

 

“College?”  Rey immediately liked the lack of the general ‘I’m sorry’ response that usually came from hearing she was an orphan.

 

“University of Coruscant.”

 

“I went there as well.  Let me guess, communications?”

 

“Mechanical engineering with a minor in English,” she corrected.  “You were probably physics.”

 

“With a minor in history and political science,” Ben added.

 

“Double minor?  Did you have any time?”

 

“AP classes got me through a lot of the minor requirements.”

 

“Pets?”

 

“A cat my old roommate decided he didn’t want anymore and is a jerk.”

 

Rey thought it took one to know one but kept her mouth shut.  “My roommate and I don’t have a pet of our own but our friend lets us walk his puggle.”

 

“Puggle?”

 

“Cross between and pug and beagle.  BB is adorable.”

 

“Millicent sheds over everything and hogs the bed.”

 

“She sounds like a cat.”

 

“She is.”  He sighed.  “She’s mine though and no matter how much hair I have on my clothes I like her.  Another beer?”

 

Rey hadn’t even noticed she’d finished her drink.  “Yeah sure.”  She watched Ben get the attention of the waitress and quickly order the second round.

 

“We haven’t covered jobs yet,” he said.

 

“I’m guessing you work for FO?”  Rey teased.

 

“I do.”

 

“What do you do?”

 

“A little project management, a little development.  Depends on the day.  You?”

 

“Mechanic at the moment, pays the bills.  I’m always looking for other opportunities.”

 

“You do realize there are always openings at FO, right?”

 

Rey wrinkled her nose.  “The corporate culture there and I would clash fantastically.  I’d probably leave in a blaze of glory in about two weeks.”

 

“Or you’d end up CEO in two months,” Ben said with a smirk.

 

“You get me that job and I’ll work for them.”  She raised her empty glass.  He clinked his glass with hers.  “Now, if I were CEO what would that make you?”

 

“President, and I will take nothing less than that.”  Rey laughed at that, admitting to herself she was enjoying this.  He might be an asshole but once she accepted that fact she actually liked his company.  He was also very good looking, in her opinion.  She could see where his opinion on profile pictures would come from though: she was sure many people had told him his ears with slightly too big as was his nose but Rey thought it suited him.

 

Two more beers later and a shared basket of fries Rey was trying to gage if he was drunk enough to give her information about the electric car.  She was buzzed but could tell her wits were still in tact. She also was tempted to maybe actually let this go a little farther.

 

“What sort of development do you do with FO?”  She asked during a lull in their conversation about the latest movies (she’d seen the blockbusters, he’d seen more of the indie movies).

 

“Nothing at the moment,” Ben said.

 

“Really?  Did your project just end?”  She pressed.

 

“Something like that.  If the waitress comes back give her my card.”  He dropped it on the table before standing up.  “I’ll be right back.”

 

Rey picked up his card and twirled it between her fingers.  She should insist on paying half but she didn’t want to.  It did give her a chance to find out Ben’s last name and maybe check the company directory to see what he actually did.  She turned the card over and gaped at the name.  The bastard lied to her!  She was on a date with Kylo Ren, the head of the electric car team!  If she could get to his emails she could get all the details or maybe if she insisted they drink some more-

 

“Ready for the check?”  Audrey asked.

 

“Huh?  Oh yeah,” Rey handed over the card without thinking.

 

Ben, or whatever his name was, returned a minute later.  “You gave her my card?”

 

“I did, Kylo,” Rey said.

 

His expression didn’t even change.  “You read the card?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“Did you google me?”

 

“Nope.”

 

He humed.  “But you know what I do.”

 

“Why is the project on hold?”  Rey asked, leaning forward.

 

“Why do you want to know?”  He asked leaning forward as well  Rey bit her lip.  She wasn’t sure how to respond.  She could tell the truth but that wasn’t exactly the best option.  Or she could think of something else.

 

Unfortunately her brain was ahead of her mouth.  “I run a tech blog and I’d really like to know what happened because I’ve been following this thing for months and the prototypes look amazing and it could change the whole company’s public perception!  You’d actually be doing good!”

 

Kylo or Ben leaned back.  “You run Outpost Tech?”

 

Rey felt a swell of pride that he knew her blog.  “I do.”

 

“Did you only swipe right on me because you knew who I was?”

 

Rey waved her hand and snorted.  “You do realize I’ve been trying to figure out what the fuck you look like for months in case you somehow lived near me or I could run into you.  You have like no pictures on the internet.  Well I guess you’re on the app.  Which I would never have guessed it was you.”

 

“Did you just pick profiles at random?”  He asked.

 

“I had some standards, I wanted to avoid dick pics.”

 

“I looked like I wouldn’t send one?”  He asked.

 

“Not at least from your pictures.  Why do you have an album of them?”

 

“God no, they’re tasteless.”

 

“Glad we agree,” Rey finished her last glass as the check was placed on the table.  “So am I getting any information?”

 

Ben kept his head down as he signed the bill.  “You might.”

 

Rey tried very hard not to scream out loud.  “Are you serious?”

 

He looked up at her.  “Dead serious.  But we have a date tomorrow to go over it.”

 

“Why tomorrow?”

 

“I like you and I need to clean out my office.”

 

“What?”

 

“I quit today but I need to clean out.  This is going to be my big fuck you to Snoke.  Let me get your number.”

 

“Yeah.  Wait, why did you say your name was Ben?”

 

“It is.”

 

“No it’s Kylo.”

 

“Technically,” he explained, “my name is Ben Solo.  But I decided to go by Kylo Ren in college and just never bothered to really change it.  My username was a play on that.”

 

“Kylo Ren is a stupid name, by the way.”

 

“Not to an awesome eighteen year old.”

 

“I’m sure you were the most angst ridden kid in your freshmen class.  I’m calling you Ben, by the way.”

 

“I’ll convince you to call me Kylo in no  time.”

 

Rey waved her hand at him as she entered him into her phone.  “Sure sure.”  Ben grabbed her hand and kissed it.  “That was unexpected,” she said softly.

 

“I said I liked you.”

 

“Maybe I like you a little too,” she said.  He took her hand as they walked out of the restaurant.  Rey felt a little giddy, whether it was the beer, the fact that she was to get all the information she wanted, or that she really did like the asshole she didn’t know.  

 

Ben bent down to kiss her as soon as they reached the curb.  “You pick tomorrow?”

 

“Whole Foods hot bar and we can eat outside with beer and their wifi.”

 

“Sounds incredibly romantic,” he said in a deadpan.

 

“You haven’t seen me make a salad for four dollars and include many many things.”

 

“I look forward to it.”

 

Rey practically skipped home.  The next day, over salad and whatever hot food Ben grabbed Rey frantically typed as he spilled everything.  First Order had no intention of actually having the car go public, the majority of the money poured into it was actually funneled into the hands of Snoke.  Ben had actually wanted to make the prototype worked and thought he had it down.  No one had made him sign anything that meant his plans belonged to FO so as soon as the order came down that the project was going nowhere he quit.  No amount of goading from Snoke could have convinced him to stay, his years of doing what they wanted so he could work on his pet project on the side were over.

 

“What are you going to do now?”  Rey asked without looking up from her screen.

 

“Go work for Skywalker.”

 

Rey looked up at that.  “I check the openings there everyday and there are literally none.”

 

“Most of it is recruiting, you are generally scouted.”

 

“You were?”

 

“Kind of.  Luke is my uncle so in a way I’ve been scouted since I first started doing math.”

 

“Lucky bastard.”

 

“There’s no fraternizing policy at Skywalker.”

 

“And what does that have to do with the price of tea in China?”  Rey asked.

 

“Maybe I’d like to have my girlfriend work there too.”

 

Rey felt her heart sink into her stomach.  “Your girlfriend?”

 

Kylo looked a little chest fallen.  “That’s where this is going, right?  Or were you going to ghost me as soon as this was posted?”

 

“It was a thought but you said you were going to convince me Thai food wasn’t over rated.  I’d like that to happen first.”

 

“Only first?”

 

“You’re still on probation.  Soon you may even get to see my tiny apartment.”

 

He smirked.  “I look forward to it.”

 

~*~*~

 

The notification light on Rey’s phone caught her eye.  She was finishing up one of her twice a week afternoon shifts at the garage she worked for, one of the compromises for having her still be able to work on her car there for free.  Skywalker was a surprisingly flexible company to work for so long as she got her work done.

 

She unlocked her phone to see a text from Ben.  She smiled and opened it only to presented by a picture of his dick followed by ;)

 

She rolled her eyes.   _ Did you really think this would work for sex? _ She typed.

 

**Yes, come home**

 

_ I think I have more to do here _

 

**:(**

 

_ Kidding, I’ll be there in twenty minutes and you better be naked _

 

**:D**


End file.
